racism
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The Dear White People Roundtable
After what seems like a year’s worth of trailers, teasers, and dozens of free screenings for Bougie Blacks and guilt-ridden Whites, Dear White People was finally released. Some are calling it genius and whichever other superlative they can think of. Others have been somewhat underwhelmed. Last week, we started an email thread for the VSB…
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Still A Nigger In Paris
“I don’t want to raise my children in this country.” I’ve seen many iterations of that sentiment on social media, and I get it. As should anyone who pays any attention to the news and/or has personally experienced the permanent and occasionally paralyzing anxiety present when raising a little Black or Brown boy or girl…
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Leaked: More Danny Ferry NBA Scouting Reports
The odd circumstances leading to Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson selling his interest in the team apparently stem from racially insensitive comments made by general manager Danny Ferry during a conference call in June, an act that led to the internal investigation of the Hawks and Levenson self-reporting his own racially tinged comments. What exactly…
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Defending Ray Rice Is Just The Same As Defending George Zimmerman
***Damon’s latest for Ebony on the similarities between Ray Rice defenders and the people defending George Zimmerman and Darren Wilson*** For (many) Black people, this is the most maddening and exasperating part of racism. Not the actual racism. But the denial that the actual racism exists. Knowing this, and how frustrated so many of us are by…
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Exactly How Racist Was Atlanta Hawks Owner Bruce Levenson's Email?
It was quite a weekend in sports. Serena won again, the NFL proved (again) that we’re all hypocrites, and Steph Curry decided to go all Steph Curry against Mexico. He must be racist. For me, though, the most interesting sports-related item was the news that Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson would be selling his share…
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A Peek Into The Secret Club Of Assumed Racism
My thoughts flash back about five months ago to South Avenue in Wilkinsburg: It’s around 5:30 p.m. and I’m driving to my dad’s house for dinner with my wife and two daughters, 14 and 11. Something bizarre awaits us. We’re pulling out from a stop sign when – seemingly out of nowhere – two girls,…
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Michael Sam, And The Black (And Gay) Politics Of Being "Twice As Good"
The analogy many gay rights activists and allies have made between their fight for equal rights and the Black American’s fight for civil rights is flawed, but I understand why it’s made. It’s a natural comparison, but it breaks down when considering that (most) Blacks can’t blend in. In America, Blackness is conspicuous, and this conspicuousness allows for…
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On Being A Little Tired Of Being The "Safe Black Friend You Talk To About Race"
I was a junior in high school when a teacher came over to a group of us at lunch looking for one of our classmates. With four grades of students capped at no more than 100 each, we were a small school of folks who knew each other by name. In the liberal granola-crusted feel-goodism…
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White Guy Acts A Fool, Black Guy Gets Maced For Being In The Vicinity
Thank the lord for camera-phones, photogs, and civic-minded individuals who give a shit. Especially considering everything going on in Missouri right now, its kind of cool to hear non-Black people have the back (unsuccessfully) of a young, Black guy. Because it’s been that kind of week, such is the story of 25-year-old Raymond Wilford who…
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President Obama Speaks On Ferguson…And Words Come Out Of His Mouth
I’m a huge President Obama fan. Which, these days, often makes me an Obama defender. Part of this defense is a personality-based relation. He’s a textbook introvert. I am as well. I know how it feels to have your pensive and deliberate nature interpreted as being robotic, arrogant, and aloof. I also know how it…